1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a vehicle wheel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The design concepts and production techniques used in the manufacture of vehicle wheels for the automotive industry have not been significantly changed for many years. The only notable exception was the introduction of styled wheels in the 1960's. Styled wheels do not require hubcaps or other wheel covers, and their popularity has grown continuously since their introduction. Nonetheless, the conventional steel disc wheel still predominates.
Vehicle wheels have been fabricated from synthetic plastic materials. U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,220 illustrates and describes such a plastic wheel. As noted in that patent, these wheels have not been competitive with steel wheels. Rather plastic wheels have been especially, though not exclusively, intended for use with vehicles such as transport carts, fork lifts, and the like, having small diameter wheels.
Plastic materials are also known for use as elements in otherwise metal wheels. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,219 discloses the use of expanded polyurethane or polystyrene foam, or any other honeycomb plastic material, for use as a spacer, or packing element, in wrought metal wheels. The wheels which are the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,219 are wheels manufactured from light-weight alloys such as alloys of magnesium for high performance cars.
Polyurethane foam is also known for use as an adhesive to bond ornamental plastic wheel covers to conventional steel disc wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 3,669,50l shows such an application for polyurethane foam. As pointed out in that patent, the wheel is of conventional construction, i.e., the wheel is the conventional steel disc wheel which predominates the vehicle wheel market. The polyurethane is strictly an adhesive material to secure the cover permanently to the wheel.